Burris, Roland (1937-…), a Democrat from Illinois, served as a United States senator in 2009 and 2010. He filled the Senate seat left vacant by the departure of Barack Obama, who resigned from the Senate in November 2008 after being elected president. Prior to his appointment as senator, Burris had served as Illinois attorney general and worked as a lawyer in private practice.
Roland Wallace Burris was born in Centralia, Illinois, on Aug. 3, 1937. He received a bachelor’s degree in political science in 1959 from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He then attended college in Hamburg, Germany, for a year. Burris received a J.D. degree from the Howard University School of Law in 1963.
Burris served briefly as a bank examiner for the U.S. Department of the Treasury and later worked for a private bank. In 1973, he became director of central management services for Illinois. He was elected state comptroller (an official who looks after public accounts) in 1978. The election made him the first African American in Illinois to be elected to statewide office. Burris held the position until 1991, when he became the state’s attorney general. He was attorney general until 1995. Burris later worked as a partner or consultant at several private firms.
Burris’s appointment to the U.S. Senate met with controversy. He was named to the seat in December 2008 by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich . Blagojevich had earlier been indicted on corruption charges. Federal prosecutors had accused him of planning to “sell or trade” the Senate seat “for financial and personal benefits for himself and his wife.” In response to the controversy, Senate Democrats announced they would refuse to seat anyone appointed by the governor. But Blagojevich appointed Burris anyway. Senate Democrats later lifted their objection to Burris, who had not been accused of any wrongdoing. He was sworn in on Jan. 15, 2009. Two weeks later, the Illinois Senate voted to remove Blagojevich from office. In July 2009, Burris announced he would not seek election to a full term in the U.S. Senate in 2010. In late November, Burris was replaced in office by Republican Mark Kirk , who won election earlier that month.
